Babymoon

Tre and I decided it would be a good idea to spend some time, just the two of us, before we become a trio. After pondering various exotic vacation destinations (Hawaii, anyone? Mexico, perhaps) we decided that given my increasing size, we should stick to something more local. We decided to go back to one of our favorite places...Discovery Bay, just outside Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula.



Our 4 day trip began in Seattle on May 14th. We decided to make a small detour to accommodate Tre's love of baseball. The Mariner's played the Boston Red Sox on the evening of the 15th and he'd found some great seats at a very reasonable price. Now, baseball is not really my thing but knowing it's one of Tre's passions I was hoping I'd catch the fever! And after all, this will probably be the last baseball game we go to sans kid...so we figured we should take advantage! The game was amazing and Seattle beat the Sox (don't ask me the score). We had a good time and the weather could not have been more amazing for a night under the stars at SafeCo.



While in Seattle we were also able to catch up with some of my dear friends from long ago, The Mirich's, for a couple quick visits. Friday morning we met up with Shannon and their two youngest Abby and Sadie and we made our way to a WONDERFUL coffee/pastry shop. Now, I will never remember where this lovely little eatery is located, which is a shame considering we gobbled down some of the best pastry I've had in awhile and drank some equally good espresso! YUM! After filling our bellies, we went to the Woodland Park Zoo and walked around the exhibits seeing hippos, giraffe, flamingos, emus, penguins, lions... and so many more fun creatures! Post zoo we were treated to yet another culinary delight...Cuban sandwiches! We took our edible treasures up to a sunny Kerry Park and enjoyed the BEST sandwich I have eaten in my entire life with an amazing view of Seattle in all her glory. Such a wonderful day!



After a late evening at SafeCo field watching the Mariners, we met up with Jon and the 3 little Mirich girls for breakfast on Saturday morning. We enjoyed some waffles, strawberries, whipped cream, cantaloupe and coffee! Thanks Jon! It was wonderful to catch up with old friends and enjoy some time together.

Sadie and Abby at the Woodland Park Zoo

Tre at Kerry Park with the Space Needle in the background

Shannon and me enjoying some sunshine at Kerry Park

After brunch, Tre and I made our way up the Olympic Peninsula winding along the road by the Sound through little towns, admiring the beautiful day and the interesting houses along the shore. Due to the Hood Canal Bridge being closed, what would have been an hour and a half drive turned into a 3 hour drive. Luckily, the weather was nice and there was a lot to look at.



We spent the next couple days enjoying the serenity and peacefulness at Jenny's Cottage. We spent the first few nights of our honeymoon here and returned for our 6 year anniversary last year. This is one of the most special places to Tre and me...so quiet, beautiful and enjoyable. It's always hard to leave but we appreciate that the proprietor has kept this place simple and quaint.



This trip was especially poignant as we know our lives are about to change with the addition of Monkey. Even though we will return to our special little cottage, it will be a different experience for us next time because we'll have a little one with us. We were grateful to have had time to return once again to our special place to refuel and reconnect and prepare for impending parenthood.

Periwinkles...photo by Tre :)

Red Adirondacks...these chairs look out over the Bay toward the Olympics...beautiful!

Cottage Clematis



The view from the porch of Jenny's Cottage

Tulips, Lilacs and Pupcakes

Time to catch up on the Cl8n happenings in April and May...riveting, I assure you...


TULIPS
Tulips are without a doubt one of my favorite flowers. They are the heralds of SPRING and I love to walk out in the fields at the local farms. This year, the beginning of the Tulip Festival started on my birthday. Despite all the cold weather we'd had, I was still holding out hope that there would be some blooms as I asked Tre if we could go to the Festival for my birthday. Although my birthday was sunny and quite warm, there were very few blooms to be sniffed/photographed/admired. So, we returned 2 weeks later and the blooms were magnificent!

Beware: excessive flower pictures following! You've been warned!

LILACS

Lilacs are also without a doubt one of my favorite flowers (notice a theme here?). I love that they only bloom for a short period of time when Spring is in full effect. I adore the scent of fresh lilac blooms and take every chance I get to have some in the house when they are in season. Seeing as we don't have any lilacs in our yard that are mature enough to produce blooms yet, I have been known to take walks in the evening after the sun has gone down and 'thieve' blooms from alley-ways and city owned parking strips. I do not steal from people's yards...unless the blooms are hanging over the fence in the alley-way just begging to come home with me. Tre has been my accomplice on many of these late night excursions. I know he thinks I'm quite off-balance...but I think I give the blooms a wonderful home and spend time adoring them daily.

PUPCAKES

A friend introduced me to a fabulous cupcake shop here in PDX. She brought cupcakes last year for my 31st birthday party and I've been in love with them ever since. Cupcake Jones is in the heart of the Pearl District in NW Portland. It's a tiny little shop with the most amazing succulent treats. In addition to making edibles for humans, they also make tiny little cupcakes for our spoiled furry friends. I was in the neighborhood picking up cupcakes for a friend's birthday and thought I'd get a couple cupcakes for the pups. They are made out of carrots and oats and apples and all things that dogs love, I guess, and are topped with a dollop of cream cheese frosting. We decided to take pics of our pups enjoying their treats! SOOOOO hilarious to watch!

Tsavo and his cupcake

Ellie and her treat

Happy pups and cupcakes!

Memorial Day

I know I've been a bad bad blogger...but you can't say I didn't warn you when I began this blog last year. I did say that one of my fears was that I would neglect it...and neglect it I have! But this entry is not about self-pity or the petty crime of blog neglect...

It's about Memorial Day.

Many of us have been touched at some point by those who have served overseas in the military. Whether friends, acquaintances, family members or co-workers, in service both past and present and whether you support or oppose the current war...each of our lives has been touched somehow.

Today I've been reflecting on Memorial Day 2005. Tre was overseas in Afghanistan and I was embroiled in my role as an army wife. During his year long deployment, I worried EVERY SINGLE second of EVERY DAY we were apart, that he was safe and well cared for. While I will never really understand all he saw and experienced during his deployment, I do know he was changed during that time and our marriage was very shaky for quite some time after his return from Afghanistan. Tre was processing images, occurrences, interactions and cultural issues stemming from his time in the midst of a war-torn country. Despite that difficult year of separation and the year of painful rebuilding that followed, not a day goes by that I am not grateful for his safe return and for all that his deployment taught us. It's been 4 years since Memorial Day of 2005. Tre and I are solid now and we've been so very blessed with so much over the past several years.

For us, Memorial Day is a time of reflection. There are many military families who are missing their loved ones right now and my heart aches for them. So today, hug your people. Revel in the wonderful people they are and how they contribute to your life. And send a prayer up for all those who are remembering those they have lost today. May we all remember how blessed we truly are!